


It comes and goes in waves

by thespacecowboy



Category: B.A.P, Kpop - Fandom
Genre: Angst, M/M, Not so nice Yongguk, android Zelo, companion androids, he comes around eventually
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-28
Updated: 2016-08-28
Packaged: 2018-08-11 15:16:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7897663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thespacecowboy/pseuds/thespacecowboy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zelo is an android and Yongguk isn't sure how to feel about that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It comes and goes in waves

** September **

It’s Tuesday afternoon when Yongguk first notices the box sitting on the doorstep. It’s massive, at least six feet tall, and almost fully blocks the view of the good looking neighbor across the streets front yard. He opens the door and stares at it wearily before looking for a return address on the box. There is none. After a few attempts at dragging the unreasonably heavy box inside fail, Yongguk gives up and leaves it on the doorstep.

Its eight o’clock when his roommate Himchan comes home, and with their combined efforts they finally manage to drag the box inside and prop it against the hallway wall. The giant brown box is covered in fragile stickers but there are no breathing holes at the top to suggest anything live is inside. Yongguk spends awhile looking for any sort indication of where or from whom it came but all he finds is a slip of paper taped on the back reading “ _To Yongguk.”_ He lays the box down before following the dotted lines and cutting open the front to reveal its contents. Inside the box lies a man. His eyes are closed and he appears to be sleeping aside from the notable lack of the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest. His curly blond hair is flat on one side from being pressed against the side of the box, and his lanky body is clothed in a baggy t shirt and a pair of skinny jeans. The white chuck Taylors on his feet are so clean they look unnatural. On top of his chest is an instruction booklet. Himchan has already lost interest and gone to sleep so Yongguk opens the book and tries to decipher the instructions. They’re not in Korean or English, and the font is too small to read. The only word he remembers is _Zelos_ because it’s written on the front of the booklet in big letters. The grandfather clock on the wall chimes signaling its midnight, and Yongguk tosses the manual back on the androids chest before leaving to get something to eat.

 

After a week and a half of Zelo, as Yongguk has taken to calling him, obstructing the area between the kitchen and the doorway he opens the manual again and finds a diagram that explains how to turn the android on. He pulls Zelo up into a sitting position and finds the small button behind his left ear. The only English sentence in the manual is right under the diagram and reads “ _press and hold button behind ear to bring companion to life._ ” He presses down on the button for 5 seconds and is about to let go when Zelo opens his eyes. He blinks twice before reaching up to rub his eyes and momentarily looks unsure of his surroundings. When he notices Yongguk crouching beside him, he smiles shyly and holds out his hand.

“Hello” he says his voice surprisingly timid sounding. Yongguk looks at him wearily before turning around and walking back towards his bedroom as Zelo’s hand still hangs in the air. He closes the door behind him leaving Zelo sitting in his box in the hallway. Though he feels a little ashamed of his harshness, the thought of an android companion feels like a new low that Yongguk isn’t prepared to face yet, and so he stays in his room and takes a nap hoping that when he wakes up Zelo will somehow be gone.

When he gets up, the first thing he notices is that it’s dark out. It’s not until he’s closed the blinds and walked in to the hallway that he sees the empty box and remembers that he’s “activated” Zelo. He finds the android standing in the middle of the living room. He looks confused and unsure and seems to be displaying more emotion than possible for something that isn’t even human.

“Hello” Zelo tries again, with a more steady voice, and this time Yongguk nods in acknowledgement.

“How long have you been standing there?” Yongguk asks him while sitting down on the couch and kicking his feet up on the coffee table.

“I don’t know” Zelo replies quietly, looking almost ashamed at his inability to answer the question. Yongguk sighs and wonders if it’s pathetic to feel bad for hurting a robots feelings.

“Do you want to sit?” he asks, pointing to the empty space beside him on the couch. The grateful look that Zelo gives him makes him so uncomfortable that Yongguk quickly adds “You’re blocking the TV” just so the android knows Yongguk still hasn’t accepted the idea of having him as a companion. Zelo’s smile drops a little but he still quickly sits on the couch. Yongguk turns on the TV and settles on an episode of the American drama “That 70’s show”. When it reaches the scene where a drunken Eric is serenading Donna he burst into laughter and is surprised to notice Zelo is laughing along with him. He turns curiously and looks at the android. Zelo’s eyes are focused on the screen and he looks almost determined to keep up with everything. “You understand?” Yongguk asks, momentarily awed by how human-like he seems.

“No” Zelo replies turning away from the TV and innocently looking at him. The sinking feeling in Yongguk’s stomach that he first noticed when he activated Zelo comes back. He gets up and quickly walks back to his room and goes to sleep leaving Zelo sitting in the living room with only the TV to keep him company.

It’s around 3pm the next day when he gets out of bed and heads to the kitchen to find something to eat. Zelo is sitting on the counter rolling an apple back and forth across the table. He stops and quickly puts it away looking guilty when he notices Yongguk watching him.

“You don’t have to stop” Yongguk says honestly while preparing a bowl of ramen and sitting down on the seat beside him. “You live here too now. You’re allowed to do what you want.” The embarrassingly grateful smile comes back to Zelo’s face, so he busies himself with trying to stuff as much ramen into his mouth as possible. There’s a long period of silence before the sound of Zelo’s voice alerts him that he was daydreaming. “What?”  Yongguk asks turning to face him.

“I said, what do I call you?” Zelo asks once again toying with the apple with an almost childlike fascination.

“Yongguk” he says between mouthfuls of ramen. “My name is Yongguk.”

“Yongguk” Zelo says slowly trying it out. “And what do you call me?”

“Zelo” he replies as he stands up and puts the bowl in the sink. Yongguk watches Zelo’s pink lips move as he silently sounds out the name before smiling.

“Thank you” Zelo replies earnestly. Yongguk isn’t sure exactly what he’s being thanked for, but his face heats up with embarrassment and he offers Zelo a quick smile before leaving the kitchen and going to find his laptop.

 

 

** November **

Yongguk watches Zelo during the day. Unlike Himchan, classes for Yongguk’s music degree don’t start up again until January, so there isn’t much to do but watch Zelo wander from room to room and try to understand what every object does with quiet fascination. He notices that Zelo seems particularly captivated by the books littering the study room and before Yongguk fully notices just how absorbed in them Zelo has become, the blonde has already read all the books in the house.

The next day Yongguk puts on a hat, goes to the bookstore and spends a cringe worthy amount of time and money finding books he thinks Zelo will like. He tells himself it’s because he feels bad about the way he originally treated Zelo and tries not to think about the fact that the genuine look of appreciation the android gives him every time he does something halfway decent makes him feel lighter than he’s felt in a long time.

 

 

** February **

Zelo doesn’t eat. Yongguk figures it should make sense seeing as Zelo isn’t actually a human, but he looks like a human and it’s only these small difference that keep Yongguk from forgetting. He doesn’t eat, but Zelo still enjoys the aromas that fill the house on the days that Yongguk actually makes the effort to cook. One day while Yongguk sits on the kitchen counter eating brownies and running his fingers through Zelo’s curls, Zelo tells him that that days like this are his favorite. Yongguk notices the look of absolute contentment on Zelo’s face, and decide that from now on he’ll do whatever it takes to keep it there.

Life with Zelo becomes easier as time passes. He’s a quick learner and easily picks up on Yongguk’s mood. Zelo understands when he wants to be left alone and when he feels overwhelmed with the stress of his classes and just wants to lie down and hold someone in his arms. It’s almost effortless how quickly Zelo has become an integral part of his life, and it should have been a warning sign of his increasing dependence on the android, but soon Yongguk can’t remember what life was like before Zelo.

 

 

** May **

It’s 4pm on a Thursday when the doorbell rings. Yongguk’s head is resting on Zelo’s lap and he’s in the middle of telling a story about his time in university when the doorbell interrupts. He gets up and quickly tries to smooth out his messy hair before opening it. A middle aged lady waits on the other side. She’s wearing a pencil skirt and blazer and carrying a briefcase. Something about her smile puts Yongguk on edge, but he smiles in return eager to get the woman out of the way so he can get back to Zelo.

“Hello” the woman says pulling a sheet of paper out of her briefcase. “My names Park Minhee, and I’m here to talk to you about model number 221768.”

“What?” Yongguk ask confusedly. Minhee seems to recognize the look on his face before clearing her throat and sheepishly smiling.

“You’re companion android” she clarifies, and Yongguk feel the sinking feeling return to his stomach. “The company that produces them has currently come out with a new model and is looking for clients to try it out. All you have to do is sign a release form, and we’ll remove your old model and a technician will come over to bring over the new model. In comparison with our retail price it’s almost free of charge. All you have to do is pay a small deductable and someone will arrive to pick up your old model-”Yongguk slams the door in her face before she can finish her carefully rehearsed speech. He rushes back in to the living room and finds Zelo still sitting on the couch. He sits beside the blonde and pulls him forward until he’s close enough for Yongguk to press his lips against the others. Zelo is unresponsive for a second before he returns the kiss with just as much energy as Yongguk.

“You’re going to replace me” he says when they break apart. He doesn’t look angry, but the resignation in his voice and the disappointed expression he’s trying to hide are so painfully obvious that Yongguk swears he can feel his heart shatter into a million pieces.

“Never” he says adamantly, pulling Zelo against his chest and smiling when the blonde wraps his arms around Yongguk.

 

 

** September **

  It’s the night after his 26th birthday when Yongguk notices that Zelo is acting strange. He seems quieter than usual and spends most of his time staring into empty space. Yongguk tries to ask him what’s wrong but the androids usual eloquence is gone and he offers no explanation for his behavior. After hours spent scoring the internet for any clues, Yongguk finds the number for the company’s customer service line and decides he’s desperate enough to call.

Six minutes and thirty two seconds later he puts down the phone. It isn’t until he hears the dial tone blaring loudly that he realizes that he forgot to hang up. He presses the off button and throws it on his bed. When he goes back to the living room and sits beside Zelo on the couch the android frowns but doesn’t say anything about his owners red eyes or the tearstains on his cheeks. Yongguk doesn’t offer any explanation.

The technician from the customer service line had said that product termination for all android companions of Zelo’s model was going to occur in a week. Seven days of service and the server would shut off and the unit would become stationary. Zelo remained activated for 5 days before his eyes lost their shine and he became unresponsive. Something about losing those two days felt like an insult to the relationship he had spent so long building with Zelo, so Yongguk called the company and screamed at the representative that answered. The representative explained that there was no way to reactivate Zelo and that they would be happy to send a newer upgraded model. Yongguk hung up but the technician still sent over a replacement and two weeks later he was sitting beside an opened box staring at a man who appeared to be sleeping aside from the notable lack of the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest. The new android was handsome, with thick lips and a beauty mark under his eye, but was lacking the blond hair, pale skin and all the things about Zelo that Yongguk had grown to feel so much affection for. He closed the box back up and dragged it into the garage leaving it leaning against the wall before taking a minute to stop in front of Zelo's box and gently run his fingers over the front cover.

"Bye Zelo", he whispered as he took one last look back before flicking the switch, plunging the room into darkness and walking away.


End file.
